Obama passing the buck on ownership of health care reform

Guess what, Democrats? Obama does not have your back - but will put a knife into it.

"I know this is a tough vote," President Obama told House Democrats at a March pep rally merely hours before they passed national health care. But he added that he was "actually confident" that "it will end up being the smart thing to do politically because I believe that good policy is good politics." Apparently not, as even some liberal lobbies are now being forced to concede.On Thursday, Families USA hosted a "messaging" conference call with Democrats and Democratic allies, admitting that ObamaCare has not in fact become more popular since it passed. Families USA called for a wholesale shift in how Democrats now attempt to sell its handiwork to the public, the central theme being that "The law is not perfect, but it does good things and helps many people. Now we'll work to improve it."That's according to the power point presentation that accompanied the briefing, as first reported by Ben Smith of Politico.com. "Don't make grand claims about the law," another slide added. "Use 'improve it' language." But wait: Wasn't improvement supposed to be the point of ObamaCare?

The most glaring omission from Obama's messaging is the health-care bill that passed Congress in March. Although Obama and congressional Democrats promised to vigorously defend the bill as they headed toward midterm elections, he has only made health care the focus on two of his 53 summer messaging days. The last time he did so was on June 22. Obama said at the time of the bill's passage that he was looking forward to debating Republicans -- who have said they want to repeal the law -- about the merits of the health-care overhaul. 'If they want to have a fight, I welcome that fight,' he said in Maine a week after the bill passed. 'I'm happy to have that argument."

No fight left in Obama - and the Democrats are going to pay for it in November.

Guess what, Democrats? Obama does not have your back - but will put a knife into it.

"I know this is a tough vote," President Obama told House Democrats at a March pep rally merely hours before they passed national health care. But he added that he was "actually confident" that "it will end up being the smart thing to do politically because I believe that good policy is good politics." Apparently not, as even some liberal lobbies are now being forced to concede.

On Thursday, Families USA hosted a "messaging" conference call with Democrats and Democratic allies, admitting that ObamaCare has not in fact become more popular since it passed. Families USA called for a wholesale shift in how Democrats now attempt to sell its handiwork to the public, the central theme being that "The law is not perfect, but it does good things and helps many people. Now we'll work to improve it."

That's according to the power point presentation that accompanied the briefing, as first reported by Ben Smith of Politico.com. "Don't make grand claims about the law," another slide added. "Use 'improve it' language." But wait: Wasn't improvement supposed to be the point of ObamaCare?

The most glaring omission from Obama's messaging is the health-care bill that passed Congress in March. Although Obama and congressional Democrats promised to vigorously defend the bill as they headed toward midterm elections, he has only made health care the focus on two of his 53 summer messaging days. The last time he did so was on June 22. Obama said at the time of the bill's passage that he was looking forward to debating Republicans -- who have said they want to repeal the law -- about the merits of the health-care overhaul. 'If they want to have a fight, I welcome that fight,' he said in Maine a week after the bill passed. 'I'm happy to have that argument."

No fight left in Obama - and the Democrats are going to pay for it in November.